SOUNDBORNE is a Norwegian instrumental Progressive Rock/Metal band. Well, they recently got a singer, so I guess they’re no longer instrumental…anyway...”Hallucinations” is SOUNDBORNE’s debut album, and a delight it is.

One of the biggest pitfalls of instrumental music is the overuse of flash and style of substance and song. There are hardly any pure “shred” moments on the album, the band deciding (very smartly) to focus on the melodies instead. The opening track is pretty straightforward. A simple power chord based riff pattern with a Rock melody on top. Nothing too fancy in the song structure so far, but the permutations and subtle changes in the melody as the song goes on add a nice touch and give dynamism to what’s going on. Then, halfway through the song, it unexpectedly slows down for a classical guitar interlude, which I loved, and the segue was perfectly done, then goes back to the main motif of the song.

Now, at this point, I was pleasantly surprised. Too many instrumental Metal releases focus on the wrong elements of their music, being technicality and amount of notes played by the guitar as opposed to the melodies that the band should play, and how the focus should be on the song as a whole. People also seem to forget that it’s a BAND, not just one person, but in SOUNDBORNE, the collective band works towards the common goal, and everyone plays an integral part. Also, instead of focusing on ONE genre (or sub-genre), each song has no qualms in showing the band’s multiple influences, so the songs often have a fair amount of stylistic changes, and that makes the songs so much more vibrant and rich.

The rhythm section is tight, which is of the utmost importance for me in instrumental releases, and the guitar work is absolutely stellar. It is extremely melodic, with both rhythm and lead playing in tandem with each other.

These men have shown that they can write amazing songs. Hopefully with a singer, they will be able to get a lot more attention, because they deserve it.

(Online May 7, 2008)